First Trial Chamber.
Kawashima Qi was the only one sitting in the defendant's seat. Because the defendants did not appear in court and had all left Donghai, and the court's temporary injunction had not been enforced, Judge Christine immediately announced that a simplified trial procedure would be conducted, and a jury would not be needed at all.
Lu Ming explained why Gui Linghua should get the inheritance.
From the perspective of imperial law, this is beyond doubt: if a will restricts the surviving spouse's freedom of marriage and love as a condition, it is itself invalid.
Lu Ming mainly talked about that Gui Linghua had lived in Donghai for more than ten years and all the inheritance was originally in Donghai. Therefore, the inheritance of the inheritance was subject to the laws and regulations of Donghai. As the first-line and only heir, Gui Linghua should get all the inheritance of her deceased husband.
Kawashima Kiyomi actively defended himself, pointing out that Katsura Ayaka and Kato Sanryū were both Japanese, and should be subject to Japanese law, and that inheritance should follow Japanese public order and good customs, etc. But he looked gloomy, and it was obvious that he was very dissatisfied with the parties' escape without a fight, but he could not influence their decision.
After a ten-minute recess, the court returned to court and Judge Christine ruled that the plaintiff, Katsura Ayaka, won the case and that she would inherit all of her late husband's estate.
Kawashima Qi gave Lu Ming a cold look and wanted to get up and leave.
Lu Ming stood up and said, "Your Honor, what about the ownership of Pearl Island and other small islands and reefs?"
Christine glared at him and said, "Legacy No. 19, the Grant of Pearl Island from Duke Charles III, as a cultural relic, also belongs to the plaintiff. Didn't I make that clear?"
Lu Ming coughed, "In court, I am talking about the ownership of Pearl Island! The Granting Book is not just a cultural relic, it also has certain legal effect, doesn't it?"
"Whether it has legal effect or not, you can go through the declaration process separately. It is not included in the inheritance cases I am hearing!"
Judge Christine picked up the gavel and prepared to bang it and leave the court.
"Sir, give me two minutes!" Lu Ming raised his hand.
Christine didn't bother to pay attention to him at first, but she didn't know what she thought of. She glanced at him and put down the gavel again, "Okay, tell me your twisted theory!"
Kawashima was stunned. What was this chief judge of Beiguan, who was always known for his fairness, the former Grand Duchess, or the former Princess, and the beloved daughter of the current Duke of Donghai, doing
Many people only know that her life experience is mysterious and that she has a strong background, but few people actually know that she is an important member of the family of Duke Charles of the East China Sea, a former branch of the royal family and one of the top aristocratic backgrounds today.
Her father is Charles IX, the current Grand Duke of Donghai. Her ex-husband is also a Grand Duke. It is said that he is an important prince, so he can inherit the title of Duke. After all, there are not many dukes in the royal family today. Only important princes can be given the title of place. According to the title of Yingzhou, the Grand Duke is similar to the Prince. But it seems that her ex-husband has a bad character. He did something wrong, such as torturing and killing a black slave? Therefore, she filed for divorce a few days after the wedding. It was a rare divorce case of high-ranking nobles. It brought a great impact to the entire top aristocratic class, including the royal family. It was very sensational at the time, but the news was suppressed by the royal family.
I heard that the ex-husband is very infatuated and has not married yet. He is still waiting for her to change her mind.
Of course, Kato Shigeo and his gang didn't know Judge Christine's background, so they didn't take it seriously. They thought that everything would be fine as long as they returned to Japan, but they were afraid that they would suffer.
I learned this secret by accident from a super big client. If I spread it out, the big client would definitely kick me out immediately, and this might be the lightest punishment.
After weighing the pros and cons, he had no choice but to sacrifice a few of them and not tell them the inside story.
Judge Christine just announced the verdict, and I didn't resist much.
But unexpectedly, the plaintiff's misleading lawyer was obviously up to new tricks. I wonder what this extremely honorable judge was thinking. Why waste time listening to his nonsense
At the plaintiff's seat, Lu Ming was also stunned. He didn't expect that he would be given time. He was used to arguing his case based on reason. Besides, there would be discussions among the judges. It would be nice if he could state his "wrong ideas" in advance and give them time to consider.
But I didn't expect to have the opportunity to explain myself, especially in the court of Judge Christine, who was always serious and stern. It seemed that she had changed her mind about me. I bowed slightly, "Okay, Your Honor!"
He pondered and said, "Before the Great Reclamation Period, most of the ownership of land and islands was owned by our nobles."
"Often a noble owns the land of an entire city."
"But the population was limited at the time, so a lot of land was barren. In addition, the nobles hundreds of years ago exploited the tenant farmers' harvests very heavily."
"In order to change this situation, the great emperor issued many decrees, and thus entered the era of great reclamation."
In fact, the start of the "Great Reclamation" was not so peaceful, and Lu Ming would not mention this in court.
"During the Great Reclamation Era, as long as a field was cultivated for a full year and the original owner did not discover it and did not raise any objection within that year, the land would belong to the cultivator."
"This is also to avoid unnecessary waste and turn barren fields into land that can create value and resources."
"The legal spirit of the Enfeoffment Decree also extends to today. For example, according to the Bolin Land Law, if a house is vacant and someone moves in, and the owner does not come to collect rent within 10 years, and the tenant has placed an ad in the newspaper to find the original owner and has been paying relevant fees, then after 10 years, the house will belong to the tenant."
"This is also to avoid wasting social resources."
"I think that if this legal spirit is defined by a name, it can be called the principle of adverse possession!"
"Today, the ownership of Pearl Island falls under the category of adverse occupation!"
"More than five hundred years ago, due to the Grant of Duke Charles, the island can be considered to have a dispute over ownership."
"However, over the years, the owners of the Book of Grant and their descendants have never claimed ownership of the island, except for my client, Miss Gui Linghua!"
"More than 200 years ago, it became a daily fishing spot for fishermen from the East China Sea."
"Therefore, the fishermen in the North Gate of the East China Sea are the objects of adverse occupation, and my client, Miss Gui Linghua, is the original owner and the subject of adverse occupation!"
"But does this adverse possession exist? Your Excellency the Judge needs to make a ruling. Because an island is not a house, its shelf life is much longer than that of a house. Therefore, the ten-year limit should not apply. Instead, a longer period should be used to define the adverse possession. My client has now filed a claim for ownership after his property was occupied for 231 years!"
"If your honor believes that adverse possession exists in this case, then Pearl Island will from now on be a legal fishing ground for the fishermen from Beiguan, East China Sea. If your honor believes that adverse possession does not exist, then you should rule that the island will from now on belong to my client Gui Linghua!"
The information Lu Ming obtained from Wang Zili and Uncle Wang Wu was clear. A hundred years ago, Japanese fishermen first arrived in the waters of Pearl Island to fish.
Therefore, as long as the ownership of this island uses the principle of adverse occupation, the owner is either the East China Sea fishermen or Gui Linghua.
If the Beiguan fishermen are found guilty of adverse occupation, then the Japanese fishermen are not qualified to be the object of adverse occupation. If the property is ruled to belong to Gui Linghua, then it is hers, because when she signed the agency agreement with Gui Linghua, the grant of the island as a cultural relic was included in her 80%, and it is not very valuable and does not take up much of the 80% space. It is just a bargain.
If the island belongs to us, then everything will be easy.
The other heirs of the Book of Granted didn't know whether the book was still there. Even if it was, they used to treat it as a joke. As a representative of Gui Linghua, she was the first to claim ownership and was confident that she could defeat them all.
Therefore, as long as the principle of adverse possession is cited in this case, the autumn fishing ban can become the norm.
After thinking about it, seeing that Christine had remained silent, Lu Ming felt that there was still some loopholes, so he added more.
I talked about this for nearly an hour and felt quite dry in the mouth.
"Your Honor, I'm done!" Seeing that Christine didn't say a word from beginning to end, Lu Ming said helplessly.
"Are you sure you're done?!" Judge Christine asked calmly.
"Yes...sure..." As he said that, Lu Ming frowned and thought quickly, where were the loopholes in his arguments? Didn't he convince her
"Okay, you can say these words again in the new court of appeal!" After saying that, Christine slammed the gavel hard.
The legal assistants were all stunned. It took them a long time to come to their senses. They stood up and said in a long voice: "Court adjourned! Everyone! Respectfully bid farewell to the respected Chief Judge Christine!"
Lu Ming was even more stunned, and his nose was almost crooked with anger. Is this woman in menopause? Is there something wrong with her?! She is deliberately playing a trick on him!
Kawashima Qidu was rarely amused and laughed. He respectfully watched Judge Christine enter the inner room, then looked at Lu Ming with pity, shook his head, and turned to leave.
But in my heart, I thought, this guy has a lot of knowledge. I think everything he said is reasonable and inspiring. His summary and generalization of legal forms and his views on the connection between the past and the future are very unique.
It was as if he could find the basis for any absurd case from the legal angle, absorb and summarize it, and form a set of things that were impeccable in terms of legal principles.
From now on, try not to meet him in court.
Fortunately, the case ended like this, and it was not shameful.
If I really had a head-on collision with him, I would probably suffer a great loss if I rashly faced the strongest opponent I had ever seen in my life.
In the plaintiff's seat, Lu Ming was filled with rage. Some bystanders who did not know what was going on secretly pointed at Lu Ming's back and whispered about him.
Naturally, no one saw that after Judge Christine entered the inner court, she bit her lip and chuckled mischievously, and murmured in a lower voice, "Adverse possession, um, interesting..."